Saturday 13 July 2013 13.16 EDT
First published on Saturday 13 July 2013 13.16 EDT

One of the world's largest collections of Wild West memorabilia, including a poker table that belonged to Wyatt Earp and weapons from Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn, is to be auctioned off next week, to help pay down a Pennsylvania city's burgeoning debts.

A former mayor of Harrisburg, Stephen Reed, amassed the artefacts with a view to displaying them in a museum he wanted to build, in order to draw in history-seeking visitors and help revitalise the fortunes of the economically depressed city. But with Harrisburg's debts passing $370m, city leaders voted to put the collection under the hammer. The auction represents an attempt to recover $8m in redevelopment funds that Reed spent on about 10,000 items, during a buying spree in western states.

"Every item you're able to purchase is an investment in our future," said Linda Thompson, the city's new mayor, who is a vocal opponent of Reed's museum project. "These artefacts had been in the city's archives for a very long time. Here we are at that important moment to see what Harrisburg's history looks like and the opportunities ahead."

At more than 2,300 miles from Tombstone, Arizona – scene of the famous 1881 Gunfight at the OK Corral, in which Earp and a team of US marshalls killed three outlaw gunslingers – Harrisburg always seemed an odd home for such a massive trove of Wild West history. The items will go to the highest bidders during a week-long sale at Harrisburg's City Island, beginning on Monday.

Arlan Ettinger, the president of New York auction house Guernsey's, which will be conducting the sale, said he anticipated that more than 10,000 people would sign up as online bidders, in addition to the hundreds expected to attend in person. "I've said it a few times, that it's the largest auction of Wild West items ever, and no one has challenged me on it," Ettinger said. "So we're sticking with it."

Among the lots expected to be most popular is a dentist's chair once owned by John "Doc" Holliday, a Tombstone dentist and friend of Earp who was also involved in the OK Corral shootout. Other items include weapons such as tomahawks and knives from the Native American Sioux, Cheyenne, Apache, Blackfoot and Navaho tribes; more than 500 vintage firearms; a full-size wagon; furniture; and dozens of maps and documents.

Of particular note is memorabilia from the Battle of Little Big Horn, which took place in June 1876 and was one of the last great conflicts of the Sioux War. It was also the site of Custer's Last Stand, when General George Armstrong Custer and his 700-strong cavalry regiment were routed by the combined forces of the Arapaho, Cheyenne and Lakota tribes.

Lyndon B Johnson's Stetson hat. Photograph: Handout/Reuters

Also for sale are a number of items of interest to collectors of US presidential memorabilia. They include Lyndon B Johnson's Stetson hat, Theodore Roosevelt's three-barrelled rifle and handwritten notes by John Hancock and George Washington.

Harrisburg raised about $2m from selling off 2,000 artefacts from Reed's collection before the auction. Ettinger would not place a value on the remaining 8,000 lots, but the city hopes to net at least a further $6m.